


Forever Young

by anch, kimwoohoo



Category: GOT7, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Chubbs the frog, Everyone is like 3-5 apart from Namjin, Jaebum is jealous of those boots, Kid Fic, M/M, Minor Jimin/Yoongi, Minor Markson, Minor Namjoon/Seokjin, Minor Yugbam, Sorry honeys, Youngjae is a sunshine boi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 04:44:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8475928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anch/pseuds/anch, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimwoohoo/pseuds/kimwoohoo
Summary: Youngjae's first day at Baby Birds Kindergarten was filled with excitement and bright characters. He was so happy to be surrounded by such welcoming and kind people, but most of all he was happy that everyone seemed to like him as soon as he smiled their way. However, one boy doesn't seem to like him or his favourite red boots at all.





	1. These Boots

**Author's Note:**

> After many nights and many memes, we present something very dear to us... GOT7 and BTS kid! concept.

Youngjae stood in front of the kindergarten. The first day photos had been taken, his Spongebob backpack straps were fully tightened and his red rubber boots were gleaming in the morning sun. His mother gently squeezed his hand and smiled down at him.

 

“Are you ready to go in, sunshine?”

 

Youngjae was nervous, but nodded eagerly. He could hear the sound of screaming children already. He briefly wondered whether this would be like his nursery, where he would be surrounded by crying babies, but he remembered that he was 4 now and would be playing with the big kids. He walked through the gates with his mother, hiding behind her slightly.

 

The green front door drew back and suddenly the screaming became louder. However, Youngjae’s view was blocked by a pair of long legs in a pair of jeans that contained more holes than material. Youngjae looked up from the pair of legs and saw a man smiling down at him with a weird closed-mouth grin.

 

“Hi there!” The man bowed to Youngjae and his mother. Youngjae bowed back, noticing the cotton-candy pink laces on the man’s shoes. The man squatted so that he was on Youngjae’s level. His eyes were so scrunched up in his smile that Youngjae wasn’t sure that he could see properly, even with his large round glasses. “You must be Choi Youngjae! My name is Namjoon-ssem.”

 

“Nice to meet you Namjoon-ssem,” Youngjae’s mother replied cheerfully, gently patting Youngjae on the shoulder, “Youngjae has been so excited to start kindergarten, it’s all he’s been talking about for weeks.”

 

Namjoon held out his hand to Youngjae for a high-five, which Youngjae met enthusiastically. Youngjae’s chubby hand was barely the size of the older man’s palm.

 

“You look ready to roll, Youngjae!” Namjoon remarked, gesturing to Youngjae’s funky backpack. “It’s not raining today, why are you in rubber boots?”

 

“They’re his favourite,” answered Youngjae’s mother, with a chuckle. Youngjae watched Namjoon-ssem’s smile grow wider. He nodded fervently and stomped his boots.

 

“Well, thank you, Mrs Choi. We can look after Youngjae from here.” Namjoon shifted his attention to Youngjae. “Youngjae, do you want to come in and meet everyone now?”

 

But before Youngjae could answer, something came crashing into Namjoon-ssem. A pair of big eyes ogled him from between Namjoon-ssem’s legs, and suddenly a black-haired boy not too much bigger than Youngjae climbed out.

 

“Ah… Jackson!” Namjoon-ssem exclaimed.  
The boy seemed to ignore the older man, pushing his face into Youngjae’s.

 

“Are you the new kid?”

 

Youngjae nodded with a shy smile on his face, gripping the straps of his backpack tightly. What if the other kids didn’t like his red boots? His mum said that they were silly.

 

Namjoon-ssem tugged the boy back gently by the collar. “Jackson, this isn’t what we say when we meet someone. Please introduce yourself properly.”

 

“Hello my name is Jackson. I’m from China. Do you like Transformers?” Belted Jackson before shoving his hand out to Youngjae. Youngjae hesitated for a second, glancing up at Namjoon, who smiled at him encouragingly. He grasped Jackson’s sticky hand in his and couldn’t help but break out into a smile.

 

“Jackson, would you like to show Youngjae around?” Jackson shrieked in response and pushed past Namjoon into the kindergarten, Youngjae’s hand still clasped tightly in his. Youngjae barely had the chance to turn back to his mother and wave goodbye before he was pulled inside.

 

Youngjae was dragged towards a corner near the entry to the large room where there were the kids’ labelled cubby holes. He didn’t know many words yet, but he did recognise his own name over one of the cubby holes, written in neat handwriting. The label was decorated with sparkly dinosaur stickers.

 

“This is where we put our stuff. You can put your bag in that one,” said Jackson, pointing towards Youngjae’s cubby hole. Youngjae slid his backpack off his shoulders and tried to push it into his cubby hole. He found that it was a tight fit since he had insisted on packing his favourite penguin soft toy.

 

“Hey, look at my bag.” Said Jackson, holding his own backpack out in front of him proudly. It was bright red with Po of Kung Fu Panda striking a pose on the front. Youngjae nodded in awe. Jackson delicately placed his treasured item back into his cubby hole.

 

Jackson then took Youngjae’s hand again and dragged him to the other side of the shelves, keen to show Youngjae how well he memorised everyone’s bags. “That is baby Yugyeom’s,” Jackson said, pointing to big backpack with a lot of superheroes on it. “That is Jinyoung’s.” It was a normal black satchel. And then Jackson pointed to a glittery red purse, one like Youngjae’s mother had. “That is Kunpimook’s.”

 

As soon as Jackson had finished showing off his knowledge, Youngjae was once again grabbed by the hand and dragged across the classroom again towards a rack of brightly coloured costumes. Two boys were standing by the rack, one rummaging through the outfits in a pair of bright pink high-heels and Cinderella gown, accompanied by a cross-dressing Spider Man wearing a pink tutu and a blonde wig.

 

“This is where you can find stuff to play dress-ups, there’s a really cool ninja costume, it’s my favourite but you can wear it if you want,” explained Jackson. Youngjae nodded, still holding Jackson’s hand. Jackson rushed over to Spider Man and pulled the boy’s mask off, clutching at his cheeks.

 

“YUGYEOM! Little baby Yugyeom.” Jackson screamed into the uncomfortable looking boy’s face.

 

“Oh my gosh Jackson, I’m three and a half, I’m not a baby!” said the boy who was remarkably tall for his age, rolling his eyes.

 

“Yeah, well I’m four and three quarters so that makes you a baby!” teased Jackson, releasing Yugyeom’s cheeks and patting his head affectionately.

 

Cinderella had his bottom sticking in the air. “Yugyeomie, I can’t find the blue boots! They were there last week, did you leave them in the sandpit?” Cinderella shouted from inside the shoe chest.

 

Yugyeom shrugged his shoulders, and all three of them stood around Cinderella, waiting for him to turn around. When he didn’t, Jackson coughed, like Youngjae’s father would when he drank something hot. Cinderella turned around.

 

Youngjae was surprised by the gold star-shaped sunglasses on Cinderella’s face, the lenses so shiny that he could see his own stunned reflection staring back at him.

 

“Jackson! Have you seen the blue boots? Yugyeom wore them to our olympics, but-” Cinderella suddenly stopped, noticing Youngjae. He took off his dazzling sunglasses, and Youngjae was greeted with a pair of bright eyes. “Hi!” Cinderella extended his hand daintily. “I’m Kunpimook.”

 

Youngjae opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Jackson beat him to it.

 

“This is Youngjae! He’s really cool and he’s new here and he’s going to wear the ninja costume even though I always wear it.”

 

“I don’t think you want to wear it, Youngjae, Jackson always farts in it,” said Kunpimook, “I think you should wear the Aurora costume.”

 

“Kunpimook I never ever even fart!” Screamed Jackson, his face turning red.

 

“Can you kids please keep it down, I’m trying to read here,” snapped a boy over the top of a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Jackson made a face and leaned over to Youngjae.

 

“That’s Jinyoung, he’s a grump.”

 

“I’m not a grump!” Said Jinyoung, offended, “I just don’t want to hear about farts when I have better things to do.”

 

“Like reading…” sneered Jackson. Jinyoung snapped his book shut and glared at Jackson coldly.

 

“Let’s go read in the garden, Jimin. I can’t stand people like this,” said Jinyoung, before standing, making sure to tuck his chair in, and leaving the room. Jimin attempted to give the boys an intimidating glare as he followed behind Jinyoung while stuffing his face with a pork bun.

 

“They’re always like that,” commented Kunpimook. Suddenly he gasped like he remembered something. He motioned with his small hands for the other boys to follow him, and he led them behind the soft toy basket where there was a margarine box on the floor. “Youngjae this is a secret, you have to swear on your life not to tell Jinyoung or Jimin; they will tell the teachers.”

 

Youngjae nodded keenly, eyes wide. He felt special that the boys would trust him with a secret. Kunpimook peeled back the lid of the margarine box, and they bent over to look inside, heads pressed close together. Inside was a - a frog! Jackson squealed and grabbed the frog tightly, rubbing it against his face affectionately.

 

“Chubbs, I love you, you’re such a smooth little boy.” Jackson cooed, to the frog. The frog was speckled and shiny. It stared at Jackson without emotion. “Here Youngjae, you can hold Chubbs.”

 

Youngjae’s family had a fluffy pet dog called Coco, but Youngjae had never touched a frog before. He cupped his hands together, and Jackson carefully placed Chubbs onto his palms. He squealed in shock when the slimy frog touched his skin. He tipped Chubbs out of his hands and the frog fell to the floor, seizing its chance to gain freedom and leaping towards the door. Jackson and Kunpimook screamed as their precious Chubbs hopped away, Jackson running after him as fast as his short legs could carry him and Kunpimook wobbling behind him in his heels. The frog leapt towards a boy prancing around on a hobby horse, who began to scream and writhe as the frog passed right by him.

 

“HOSEOK, PLEASE, GRAB CHUBBS” Jackson cried in desperation. Hoseok continued to scream.

 

The next thing they knew, Chubbs was scooped up in the hands of another boy, who had appeared from nowhere. Jackson shrieked in relief and dropped to the floor in front of this boy, nearly kissing his feet. Kunpimook also fell on his knees, beside Jackson. The boy looked down at them in disgust.

 

“Is this your frog?” He asked. Jackson and Kunpimook looked up with shining eyes.

 

“Yeah his name is Chubbs! Thank you so much for saving him, Yoongi, you are my hero.” Kunpimook said, his hand clutching his heart.

 

“Well that’s a shame, I’m going to flush him down the toilet.” Said Yoongi with a sadistic grin on his face. Jackson and Kunpimook’s smiles were replaced with expressions of horror.

 

“You’re the devil!” Gasped Kunpimook.

 

“Why would you do that?” Screamed Jackson.

 

“What is a devil?” whispered Yugyeom, next to Youngjae. Youngjae was too worried to answer him.

 

“Okay,” Yoongi sighed, and Youngjae could tell that Jackson and Kunpimook were holding their breaths. “I can give you back your frog if you steal Jimin’s hat and give it to me.”

 

“But that’s his favourite hat!” Jackson gasped in horror.

 

“I know. Don’t ask any questions, don’t tell anyone, just give me the hat and nobody gets hurt.” Muttered Yoongi, squeezing the frog menacingly in his small hand. Chubbs’ eyes bulged worryingly.

 

Youngjae watched Kunpimook and Jackson press their faces together, deliberating seriously. Yoongi tapped his sandal on the floor impatiently. “Okay. We’ll do it.” Said Jackson.

 

“We can’t do it now because he’s ...reading… with Jinyoung,” Kunpimook added, peering at the two boys out in the garden. “But we will get it for you and you have to promise to give Chubbs back in one piece.”

 

“Sounds good.” Yoongi smiled shyly, looking down at his toes and blushing, before quickly shifting his expression back to its former hardness, “Not a word to anyone, or your stupid frog gets it.” Yoongi retreated into the recesses of the classroom.

 

Before anything else happened Youngjae and Yugyeom were pulled into a group huddle with Kunpimook and Jackson. “Okay. We have to get the hat quickly…” Kunpimook ducked under his armpit and looked once more at Yoongi, wincing. “Look! He’s holding Chubbs so tightly!”

 

Jackson pulled Kunpimook’s head back into the huddle. “Nap time is the only time we can go near Jimin without him noticing.” He had naturally taken charge of the mission. “I’ll tell everyone what they’re doing once I make a plan. But from now on….” Jackson pressed his sticky finger to his lips. “Shhh….”

 

They disbanded solemnly, and while Youngjae felt serious and concerned about the fate of Chubbs he also felt proud to be part of something so important. He could see the not-so-discreet look of excitement on Yugyeom’s face. In a swift motion the tall boy pulled his mask back on and followed Kunpimook, who tottered away.

 

Jackson grabbed Youngjae’s hand. “We have to find Mark. I think he can help us. He’s so cool.” Gushed Jackson. Once again Youngjae was dragged across the kindergarten, this time to the backyard. They passed Jinyoung and Jimin in the garden, who looked up and frowned at the sudden stomping. They stopped before the colourful playground, where a boy was hanging upside down from the yellow monkey bars, eyes closed serenely. He appeared to be in some sort of meditative trance, but Jackson saw no issue in disturbing him as he ran up to the boy and shook him out of his reverie.

 

“Mark! Mark!”

 

The boy opened his eyes lazily, blinking at Jackson upside down. “Jacks….on?” He seemed comfortable as he was, until his eyes landed on Youngjae. Suddenly he wobbled, and Youngjae was so scared that he was going to fall off the bars. Luckily, Mark reached out his arms to steady himself.

 

“Oh, yeah. Mark, this is Youngjae. He’s new here and he’s really cool and he’s part of Mission: Save Chubbs.” Jackson explained.

 

Mark’s eyes widened in shock. “Chubbs is in trouble?!” He gasped, wobbling so much that his legs slipped from the bar and he fell to the ground. Youngjae yelped in shock but was surprised to see Mark skillfully roll out of the fall and finish the motion in a karate pose.

 

“Hey yah!” he added, for the effect. Youngjae stared in awe. Big kids are so cool! He thought.

 

Jackson seemed frozen for a moment, before returning back to his initial intentions, only a bit more shy this time. “Yeah. Yoongi has Chubbs and says he will flush him down the toilet if we don’t give him Jimin’s favourite hat. We’re going to steal it during nap time. Can you help us?”

 

Mark’s fists tightened slightly in his pose. He sighed dramatically. “How could Yoongi do this. I always knew he was trouble.”

 

“I’ve heard that he escaped from jail!” Yugyeom piped up. Youngjae turned around at the sudden voice, and saw that both Kunpimook and Yugyeom were behind him.

 

“Maybe he stole the blue boots, Gyeomie!” Kunpimook gasped, scandalized. His expression quickly turned serious. “Mark, are you willing to join Mission: Save Chubbs?”

 

“I am!” Mark cried in response, shifting to another karate pose. While Youngjae gaped, his mouth dropping a little, Kunpimook seemed a bit embarrassed. Youngjae noticed that Jackson’s hand tightened over his.

 

“Well, that makes five of us.” Kunpimook finally said.

 

“We’re like the Fantastic Four but we have five!” Yugyeom exclaimed, holding up five stubby fingers, checking to count how many fingers he had on a hand.

 

“Hey boys, what are you doing there?” A voice called at them from the deck. The group turned to see a blond haired man in a pink sweater, sitting in a miniature chair before a table covered in craft supplies. He waved at them. “Come over here and paint with me and Taehyungie!”

 

Jackson quickly turned to the group and pressed his finger to his lip, reminding the boys of their vow of secrecy, before pounding towards the friendly man. The others followed him, letting their shared secret settle warmly inside them.

 

“Settle around the table… Oh Taehyungie, watch out! You almost knocked over all the glitter.”

 

“Seokjin-ssem! This is Youngjae! He’s new! I showed him our bags and the dress ups and chu- I mean and the jungle gym.” Jackson cried, tirelessly tugging at Seokjin’s sleeve.

 

Seokjin smiled at Jackson. “Is that right?” He then looked at Youngjae with a warm smile. “Hi Youngjae! You can call me Seokjin-ssem.” Youngjae couldn’t help but smile back. He liked this teacher already; he reminded him of his mum. “Do you want to paint with us?”

 

And Youngjae was going to nod, but before Seokjin could see his response the older man’s eyes had drifted past Youngjae and widened. “Oh my goodness Taehyung!”

 

Everyone looked at the boy sitting at the end of the table, who somehow had paint all over his face. He looked up at the others as if nothing was amiss.

 

“You are meant to be painting on the piece of paper, not your own body!”

 

Taehyung removed his brown paint-covered hands from his face and moved them onto the paper in front of him, rubbing them in large circles. Youngjae wondered what he was trying to depict. Youngjae liked to paint flowers, but he usually used bright colours to paint those.

 

“We should get you cleaned up, Taehyungie.”

 

“NO!” Kunpimook and Yugyeom cried in unison. “We want you to paint with us!”

 

Taehyung looked up, barely understanding what the fuss was about, before returning to his painting. Seokjin-ssem sighed, and the boys settled around the table gleefully. Seokjin gave each of the boys a large sheet of paper and a chunky paintbrush before they quickly began to work on their masterpieces.

 

Yugyeom was frantically swirling black paint around the paper in tight spirals. “What are you painting there, Yugyeom? A tornado?” Seokjin gently inquired with a hand on the boy’s back.

 

Yugyeom rolled his eyes and sighed as if Seokjin was being incredibly stupid. “No, I’m painting a dog.”

 

“Oh yes, I can see it now! What a cute dog!” He praised, patting the boy on the back.

 

“Seokjin-ssem! Can you tell what I’m painting?” Kunpimook asked, holding up his painting. All Youngjae could see was the colour pink and a dab of glitter.

 

“Oh that is such a pretty painting, Kunpimook!” Seokjin gasped. “Let me see, is it a princess?”

 

“Close!” Shouted Kunpimook. “It’s me.”

 

“That is lovely, Kunpimook! Now, Jackson… let me guess: Are you painting Mark again?”

 

“I don’t paint Mark always! Today I painted Youngjae because he is my new friend.” Jackson grinned, holding up his painting for everyone to see. Although it wasn’t a remotely flattering painting, being only a large, grinning head with limbs coming out of it, Youngjae couldn’t help but feel his heart swell at the sight of it.

 

Seokjin gave Jackson a big smile. “How thoughtful of you, Jackson! Youngjae is so lucky to have a friend like you.” Seokjin moved to kneel beside Youngjae. “Oh, Youngjae, do you not want to paint?” He said, glancing at Youngjae’s blank paper.

 

Youngjae gasped and quickly dipped his brush in some bright red paint. He had been so busy looking at what his new friends had been painting to paint something himself.

 

As Youngjae became absorbed in his colourful creation, he was startled to hear a shriek from beside him. Taehyung had snuck up on Seokjin while he had been distracted and smeared his face with paint! Youngjae’s mouth dropped open in shock.

 

The other boys burst out in giggles and Taehyung seemed proud of himself. Seokjin sighed again, clutching his chest. “Okay boys. When you’re finished with your paintings, go and hang them up to dry so you can bring them home.” Eventually everyone had finished their paintings and it was only Youngjae left with Seokjin-ssem at the table. Youngjae was painting his first day at kindergarten; he painted Namjoon-ssem, Jackson, Kunpimook, Yugyeom and Ch-

 

“Wow Youngjae, is that a frog?”

 

Youngjae quickly painted over Chubbs, turning him into Kunpimook’s boot. Seokjin stayed with Youngjae until he finished his painting, helping him unscrew a particularly tight glitter glue pen he needed to use for Kunpimook’s purse. By the time Seokjin had pinned up Youngjae’s painting to dry, Namjoon’s voice was announcing lunch time.

 

Namjoon came outside to round up the kids, and they all came running at him like a herd of sheep. Seokjin was helping Youngjae wash a streak of yellow paint off his hand. Namjoon kneeled across them, and suddenly broke into gentle laughter. “Jin man… You’ve got paint all over you.”

 

Seokjin’s eyes crinkled in his grin. “It was Taehyungie. I don’t know whether to scold him or praise him nowadays.”

 

Namjoon chuckled. “Here, let me help you.” Youngjae watched curiously as Namjoon gently wiped the paint off Seokjin’s face with a cloth. They seemed to have forgotten that Youngjae was crouching between them. After a while, Youngjae was pretty sure there was no more paint on Seokjin-ssem’s face, but Namjoon-ssem was still wiping.

 

“Hey, are you done yet?” Seokjin asked.

 

Namjoon blinked, his hand stopping half-way down Seokjin’s cheek. “Oh right, yeah.” He quickly backed away and awkwardly adjusted his glasses. “Yeah I need to go and… watch the kids eat… make sure they don’t choke and stuff… or make a mess… you know… yeah…” Namjoon rambled.

 

“Yeah, you go do that.” Seokjin mumbled. Namjoon nodded and hurried back inside, tripping over a tricycle in his rush.

 

Seokjin held Youngjae’s hand as they followed after Namjoon moments later. “Wasn’t that nice of him, Youngjae?” Seokjin asked randomly, however he seemed to be talking more to himself than to Youngjae.

 

Inside, all the kids were eating around tables shaped like birds. Youngjae went to the cubby hole room and grabbed his Spongebob Squarepants lunchbox from his bag. Jackson immediately waved at Youngjae to join his table, his mouth stuffed with a dumpling. Youngjae smiled and began to walk over to Jackson, but he spotted a boy that he hadn’t been introduced to yet sitting alone a few tables over. Everyone had been nice to him so far, well, except for Jinyoung and Jimin, so this boy would probably be nice too. He really wanted to be friends with everyone at the kindergarten. Youngjae put on his biggest smile as he approached the dark haired boy, the smile that always caused his mum to forgive him for making messes and earned him affectionate hair ruffles.

 

Youngjae’s smile grew even bigger when he noticed the boy’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunchbox.

 

“Hi, my name is Youngjae and this is my first day!” He said confidently to the boy, who looked up at him with wide eyes. He appeared to be one of the older children at the kindergarten. “Wow, you like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles too? My favourite turtle is Michelangelo, who is yours?” Youngjae made sure not to stop smiling throughout his introduction.

 

The boy glanced around frantically, as if searching for his response, before his gaze settled on Youngjae’s boots.

 

“What are those.” Said the boy, his face screwed up in disgust.

 

Youngjae’s smile faltered. He looked down at his feet. “They’re… my boots,” he answered.

 

The boy wrinkled his nose. “Your boots are dumb.”


	2. Jackson and the Beanstalk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We wish to express our congratulations to our loves for this next comeback; new era, same boys we fell in love with.

Youngjae felt his chin wobble before fat tears began to roll down his face. How could this boy be so mean? He suddenly felt so silly for wearing his boots. Maybe his mum was right after all. He looked down at his feet, full of shame.  
   
Someone pressed a warm hand on Youngjae’s back. “Oh… Youngjae! What’s wrong?” It was Seokjin-ssem. He crouched down beside Youngjae. “Jaebum, why is Youngjae crying?”  
   
“I didn’t say anything but the truth.” Said Jaebum, crossing his arms in front of him and his mouth forming a small pout.   
   
“He… H-He said my b-boots were d-d-dumb.” Youngjae sputtered between sobs.   
Seokjin gasped. “Im Jaebum! That is not something that we say to other children!” But Jaebum stared on stubbornly, and his expression did not change. If anything, his pout only grew. “Okay Jaebummie, when we say something mean we have to apologise. Would you like to say sorry to Youngjae?”   
   
“Your boots look like firetrucks.”   
   
Youngjae couldn’t stop crying.   
   
“Jaebum! That is not how we say sorry to someone! You are being so naughty today! What has gotten into you? Please go on sit on the naughty chair until you are ready to apologise for being mean to Youngjae.”  
   
Jaebum turned around and stalked off towards a chair in the corner of the classroom, away from all the other children. When he sat down, he looked towards Youngjae and stuck his tongue out at him. Seokjin gasped at the display and Youngjae only began to cry even harder.   
   
“Youngjae, it’s okay. Jaebum is just being silly. Your boots look very cool!” Seokjin stroked Youngjae’s back, using the sleeve of his pink sweater to wipe Youngjae’s tears.  
   
As much as Youngjae wanted to believe Seokjin’s comforting words, when he looked down at his boots, his vision clouded by tears, he didn’t think they were as cool as he once thought. Maybe he should just wear sneakers. The ones with the velcro straps and the flashing lights in the soles. They seem much cooler.   
   
Through his tears, Youngjae noticed Jinyoung approaching them carefully. “Is he okay?” Jinyoung asked Seokjin.   
   
“That’s nice of you to ask, Jinyoungie.” Seokjin smiled at the boy. “Youngjae is feeling a bit upset. But I think he’s feeling a bit better now.  Right, Youngjae?”   
Youngjae managed to nod in response, but he wasn’t really feeling better at all.   
   
To his surprise, Jinyoung extended his hand. “Do you want to read with me, Youngjae?”  
   
Nevermind that Youngjae couldn’t really read yet (he knew some words, but not all), and that the other boys made Jinyoung seem like a grump. Youngjae took Jinyoung’s hand and let the boy lead him to the reading corner, where just seeing the mountain of cushions and teddies miraculously made him a little bit happier.  
   
They sat down. Instead of reaching for a book from the shelf, however, Jinyoung pulled out a tartan-print hankie from his pocket and offered it to Youngjae. On second thought, Jinyoung started wiping Youngjae’s tears for him.   
   
“You know, Jaebum may seem like a meanie, but he’s been my friend for ever, even when we were babies.”  
   
Somehow, Youngjae found it hard to imagine Jaebum as a baby.   
“Jaebum is a bit shy. It takes him a long time to be nice. But when he is your friend, he’s the best friend ever.”  
   
Youngjae furrowed his brows, not believing that anyone would want to be Jaebum’s friend. Let alone a best friend.  
   
“On my birthday last year he got me 3 whole books! One was all about space and the planets, and one was about Gnomes, and I can’t remember the other one but it was so cool.”   
   
While Jinyoung was excitedly talking, Youngjae’s eyes wandered to where Jaebum was. He had turned his chair and was now facing the wall, staring boredly at a poster about birds. Youngjae gasped. He loved birds. He wasn’t sure that Jaebum could possibly be a nice person, if he didn’t even like birds…  
   
“So don’t listen to what he said. He didn’t mean it. Just keep being nice to him and he will start being nice to you.”  
   
Youngjae nodded and looked back over to Jaebum, and was surprised to see him looking right back at Youngjae. Jaebum quickly looked away and pretended to be immersed in the bird picture. Maybe Jinyoung was right. Jaebum didn’t seem as scary as before.   
   
Youngjae turned back to Jinyoung. But the boy had stood up, eyes wide with excitement. “Namjoon-ssem is going to read a story!” Youngjae quickly followed after Jinyoung, in the general direction all the kids were heading. “I can read by myself, but Namjoon-ssem does funny voices.”  
   
“Gather around, gather around!” Namjoon-ssem bellowed. All the kids giggled and shuffled closer to him. Youngjae found a spot beside Jackson.   
   
“All comfortable?” Namjoon asked.   
   
“Yes!” The children answered joyfully.  
   
“Can anyone guess what we’re going to read today?” From the corner of his eye Youngjae saw Seokjin-ssem leading Jaebum to the mat. Jaebum almost looked relieved. Kunpimook and Yugyeom quickly climbed onto Seokjin-ssem’s lap.  
   
“Animal Farm!” exclaimed Jinyoung. Namjoon-ssem was certainly amused by Jinyoung’s answer because he chuckled, but shook his head.  
   
“Three Little Pigs!” yelled Jimin. Namjoon-ssem continued to shake his head.  
   
“Little Red Riding Hood!”  
   
“Humpty Dumpty!” cried Yugyeom.  
   
“That’s not a story, Yugyeomie!” said Kunpimook. “It’s a nursery rhyme!”  
   
“That’s the same thing.” said Yugyeom, pouting. Namjoon chuckled.  
   
“Humpty Dumpty is only 4 lines long, Yugyeom. It wouldn’t be much of a story for us   
to listen to.”  
   
Yugyeom looked on the verge of tears.  
   
“Goldilocks!” Hoseok screamed.  
   
Clearly, no one was guessing correctly. Youngjae thought really hard about what stories he knew.   
   
“The one with Jack and the giant?” said Youngjae, looking up at Namjoon hopefully.   
   
Namjoon smiled brightly, pulling out his hands from behind his back to reveal a big book. “You’re right Youngjae! We’re going to read Jack and the Beanstalk today!”  
   
The children all gasped in delight. Youngjae looked over to Jaebum and saw him sitting with his arms folded, sulking. He also saw Taehyung next to Jaebum, picking his nose.  
   
Namjoon-ssem opened the book. Everyone leaned forward to look at the colourful illustrations.  
   
“Once upon a time,  there was a poor widow who lived in a cottage with her only son… Jackson.”  
   
“THAT’S MY NAME TOO!” Jackson screamed.  
   
“They were very poor and didn’t have enough money to buy food, so they were very hungry. One day, Jackson had to take their only cow to the market and sell it, so that they had money to buy food.”  
   
“On his way there he met a mysterious old man… called Seokjin.”  
   
The kids started laughing. Seokjin reached around Yugyeom in his lap and hit Namjoon.  
   
Namjoon grinned, and took a deep breath. “I have these wonderful magic beans that can grow up to the sky!” He said, in a funny voice. “I can trade them for your cow, if you want! said Seokjin to Jackson.”  
   
“He shouldn’t take them!” cried Kunpimook, “He needs money not beans! You can’t eat just beans for dinner!”  
   
“Jackson said Yes! We can trade! What a bargain! He thought.”  
   
“He’s so stupid!” Kunpimook cried, in disbelief.  
   
“HEY!” Jackson screamed.  
   
“Shh…” Seokjin silenced the two boys.  
   
“Jackson rushed home to show his mother. But his mother was not happy. Now they had no food, no money, and a handful of beans! His mother was so angry that she threw the beans out of the window, into the garden. They went to bed early that night.”  
   
“I already know what happens…” muttered Yoongi.  
   
“The next morning when Jackson woke up, he went outside and saw that the beans had grown into a giant beanstalk that reached all the way up to the sky! Being an adventurous young boy he climbed up and up and when he got to the top he found a giant castle!”   
   
   
“Is the night king up there?” asked Yugyeom solemnly.   
   
Namjoon seemed dumbstruck by this question, staring at Yugyeom for a long moment before continuing. “No he is not, Yugyeom.”  
   
“Jackson walks into the castle, inside is a giant room filled with giant furniture. He sees a massive golden egg, and thinks ‘That would be perfect to bring home to mother!’. As he reaches for the egg, he suddenly he hears a loud voice-”  
   
“FEE FI FO FUM  
I SMELL THE SMELL OF -”  
   
“Yuck! Taehyung pooped his pants!!” Cried Jaebum.  
   
“That’s nasty, I’m out.” Said Kunpimook, shaking his head and walking outside.  
   
Seokjin quickly pulled Yugyeom off his lap and went to Taehyung, lifting the stinky boy off the ground. “Is it true - oh okay. It’s true.” He and Namjoon shared a look of despair.  
   
“Let’s get you cleaned up Taehyungie…” Seokjin grimaced. Taehyung looked as if he had no idea what was happening, and was instead rather enjoying being lifted by his teacher in the air.  
   
“Uh…” Namjoon looked at the kids, the book still wide open in his hands. After a second, his facial expression changed and he closed the book shut. “Let’s finish the story here; that’s enough stenches for one day. I think it’s about time we all took a nap.”  
   
“I could have finished reading it myself.” Youngjae heard Jinyoung grumble quietly.  
   
Namjoon headed to an old-looking closet in the corner and pulled out blankets and pillows, laying them out on the mat. Youngjae picked one with little baby birds and a fading yellow marker stain on it. Jackson plopped down beside to him, and Mark beside Jackson. When the lights were turned off, Youngjae saw the others squeeze their eyes tightly shut, and heard Yugyeom loudly fake snore.    
   
After what felt like forever, Namjoon left the room after making sure that the children had settled down. Youngjae felt Jackson shift, and smelt his dumpling breath. “Remember Mission: Save Chubbs?” Jackson asked in a whisper that wasn’t exactly quiet. Youngjae nodded. Jackson’s eyes were big and bright in the dark.  
   
Footsteps tip-toed over to them. Someone yelped after being stepped on. Squinting up, Youngjae easily made out Kunpimook hovering over them. The glittery sunglasses he wore dazzled even in the dark. Behind him stood a yellow power ranger.  
   
“It’s the yellow power ranger!” Exclaimed Jackson.  
   
“No, it’s me!”  said the power ranger.  
   
“Whomst’d?!” said Jackson.  
   
“Me!”  
   
Kunpimook sighed, and intervened. “It’s Gyeomie. He changed for the mission.”   
   
“Sick,” commented Mark.   
   
“Anyway… back to the mission. We have to steal Jimin’s hat for Yoongi. I saw Jimin sleeping next to Jaebum.”   
   
Youngjae felt a shiver go up his spine at the sound of that name.  
   
“Okay! I already made the plan in my head! Kunpimook and Yugyeom… you two stand by the door and tell us if Namjoon-ssem or Seokjin-ssem come back. Me and Mark will steal the hat… Youngjae, you can come with us too.” Jackson instructed.   
   
They did a group handshake, but this took a while to get right because Yugyeom couldn’t see that well behind his mask, and whispered “For Chubbs” in unison.   
   
Kunpimook and Yugyeom tip-toed back and stood beside the door, hidden in the shadow of the bookshelf. If Youngjae listened really carefully, he could hear Namjoon-ssem and Seokjin-ssem talking. Jackson signalled for him and Mark to follow as he crawled along the ground. Mark followed in a kung-fu stance. Youngjae walked behind, taking care not to step on any fingers or toes.  
   
Suddenly, Jackson stopped and then Mark stopped and then Youngjae nearly walked into him. He heard Jackson grunt. Peeking sideways, he could understand why. Jimin was sleeping in a very small corner, cuddling a big pillow. The three crowded over the sleeping boy, staring down at him. There was a pool of dribble forming beside his gaping mouth.  
   
“It’s hideous” whispered Jackson.  
   
But on top of his head was the hat. It was bright red with little ears on top. It was pretty nice, Youngjae could see why Yoongi might want it. But Youngjae started wondering if he was doing the right thing. His mother always said to never take something that wasn’t his. But this is to save Chubbs, isn’t it? He reasoned. So when Jackson nudged his elbow, telling him to carefully bend down and take Jimin’s hat off his head because he stood in closest reach to do so, Youngjae bent down, knees slightly wobbling.   
   
His hand reached closer and closer. A loud snore coming from Jimin made him stop for a moment, but he continued… closer and closer until his fingertips brushed at the little ears. Slowly, he pulled. It didn’t budge because the hat fit so well over Jimin’s head. “Yank it!” Whispered Jackson. So Youngjae yanked it, just a little, and it slowly slid off.   
   
Youngjae’s heart had never beat so fast, and his hand never shook so much. The moment the hat was completely off Jimin’s head, its original owner still sleeping like a log, felt to Youngjae like he had just finished doing the hardest thing in his life.   
   
And then the lights switched on.  
   
Jackson dropped to the floor and Mark commando rolled behind a shelf. Youngjae froze.  
   
“What are you doing, Youngjae?” said Seokjin sternly. Youngjae saw Jimin slowly wake up and stare up at Youngjae in confusion.  
   
“Why do you have my hat? What’s going on?” He said sleepily.   
   
“Youngjae was trying to steal Jimin’s hat,” said Jaebum, “I saw him.”  
   
“Youngjae, is that true?” Seokjin asked, bewildered.   
   
Youngjae’s whole body felt cold. He still had the stupid hat in his hand, and now even Namjoon-ssem had walked closer to see what was happening.   
   
“Did you steal Jimin’s hat, Youngjae?” asked Seokjin, clearly disappointed. This was far from the friendly Seokjin-ssem he met earlier, and Youngjae was scared and upset.   
   
He nodded.  
   
“See,” Said Jaebum, “I told you so.”  
Youngjae stared at the ground before his new teacher’s feet and saw his vision grow blurry with tears. It was only his first day and he’d already gotten in trouble and cried twice.  
   
“That is very naughty of you Youngjae. You should not take something that is not yours.” Seokjin-ssem said, sounding very unhappy.   
   
“Give me my hat back,” snapped Jimin, snatching his hat from Youngjae’s hand and putting it back on his head, “it’s Gucci.”  
   
Namjoon-ssem stepped in, and took Youngjae’s hand. “I’ll deal with this,” he said to   
Seokjin, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Just send the kids to play and when I come back we’ll do afternoon tea.”  
   
Seokjin exhaled loudly, and Namjoon led Youngjae away. He recognised that they had stopped at the naughty corner Jaebum was sitting in before.  
   
Namjoon-ssem’s long legs disappeared as he bent down to Youngjae’s level. Namjoon seemed much more calmer than Seokjin-ssem was before, but Youngjae still knew that he had done something very bad which was why he was still crying.  
   
“Youngjae, is there a reason why you wanted to take Jimin’s hat?”  
   
Youngjae remembered Chubbs, and how the teachers were not meant to know, and remained silent.  
   
“It’s a pretty cool hat, I know. Sometimes, we might see something that we like or want. But that doesn’t mean we can take it, especially if it’s not ours.” Namjoon explained, softly. “Do you hear me, Youngjae?”  
   
Youngjae nodded, eyes on the floor.  
   
“Will you do this again?”  
   
Youngjae shook his head.  
   
Namjoon looked at Youngjae for a moment, searching for something in his expression, before sighing. “I know that you know what you’ve done wrong. But when people do something they shouldn’t do, they get punished. So, Youngjae, I’m going to have to ask you to sit in the naughty corner for 15 minutes so you can think about what you’ve done. Afterwards, I want you to say that you’re sorry to Jimin. Is that okay?”  
   
Youngjae nodded his head. After Namjoon-ssem left, he sat down in the naughty corner, watching as other kids played. At least he had some time to look at the bird poster now. There were lots of different birds, like the albatross.   
   
He spotted Kunpimook, Yugyeom, Jackson and Mark looking at him from the other side of the room, with sorry expressions on their faces (apart from Yugyeom because he had changed into another costume with a mask).   
   
“Ha ha! Look who is in the naughty corner now.” Said someone, and Youngjae was afraid it belonged to the person who he wanted to hear from the least.  
   
Jaebum came swaggering over. Youngjae swiveled around in his chair, facing the wall. He crossed his arms. It was all Jaebum’s fault. They only wanted to save Chubbs from Yoongi’s evil grasp.    
   
“Uhhh hello?” Said Jaebum, poking Youngjae’s back, “Doesn’t it suck to be in the naughty corner?”  
   
Youngjae remained silent, trying his hardest to ignore Jaebum. Eventually he heard the boy walk away.   
   
Youngjae sat quietly and stared at the bird poster. Namjoon-ssem had said 15 minutes right? 15 minutes was like an hour or something, Youngjae knew it was a long time. He stared down at his boots solemnly, they were still shiny and red. Maybe if he hadn’t worn these today Jaebum would have liked him and none of this would have happened.   
   
Suddenly, he felt something cold and slimy slide by his neck. He gasped and jumped in his seat, and the slimy thing fell into his lap and wriggled. His mouth dropped open in shock when he saw what it was.   
   
“Chubbs!” He shouted.   
   
Chubbs looked bored, as always. He blinked twice.   
   
Youngjae heard a harsh cough and looked up to see Jaebum glaring down at him.  
   
“Here’s that frog…” He said, looking away and scratching his receding hairline.  
   
Youngjae was too shocked to speak, but he looked up at Jaebum and broke into a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhh yeah sorry about the one year break university happened


End file.
